"We don’t operate on the price parameter"

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Save & Share Article

What’s this?

Digg	My Yahoo	Fark
del.icio.us	Newsvine	Reddit

Rate This Article

Rating:  0

we never bought directly from the farmers. When there were protests in UP last year, but not a single Spencer’s store was targeted. The same was the case in West Bengal. Some players sell produce lower than the price at which they procure from the farmer. We don’t do that.

Is that what triggered this sort of a violent reaction?

To be honest, there is no single issue. Essentially the problem is lack of communication. Today, organised retail contributes only 4% to the sector, which is estimated to be worth Rs 1,00,000 crore. If Rs 4,000-5,000 crore is organised then the balance Rs 95,000 crore is still unorganised. In this context, the potential of organised retail to generate employment, to grow the market and eliminate wastage from the system is huge. These benefits significantly outweigh the negatives. Having said that, we have peacefully co-existed with traditional trade for almost twelve years now.

We also have research that shows that traditional stores do well if there is a Spencer’s in the vicinity. Attribute it to category expansion.

You said that you don’t play the price game. But then, aren’t you losing out on a big consumer segment?